This invention relates to kelp/seaweed extract biocatalyst compositions, which are useful in clearing domestic, commercial and industrial grease traps of grease consisting of animal fats, primary triglycerides with some proteins, and vegetable oils. The biocatalyst compositions of the present invention are also useful in wastewater treatment facilities, bioremediation processes, and home, garden and lawn care applications.
As is well known in the art, complex proteins, celluloses, starches, fats, grease and other contaminants can cause drain clogging. Clogged drains are particularly acute in the food preparation business. Large quantities of oil, fat, starch, and grease are used in the preparation of food, or are a by-product of food preparation. Therefore, restaurants and other food preparation establishments provide, in their food preparation areas, what is referred to as a grease trap at the input point to the sewer or septic system. The grease trap is used to collect the oil, fat, starch, grease and other contaminants and to prevent contaminants from entering and impairing the operation of the sewer or septic system. The contaminants that find their way into the grease trap of a food preparation establishment are problematic in that they tend to solidify and clog the grease trap itself which may allow some contaminants access to the sewer or septic system.
Commercial and industrial grease traps are typically cleaned by removing the contents using a vacuum trick, or other mechanical means, for disposal of the contaminants elsewhere. Grease that has become impacted in drain lines and in the grease trap itself, is largely unaffected by this pumping operation, and negatively affects the effective operation of the grease trap. For example, the accumulation of solid material, including particles of food, frequently either totally or partially blocks the flow of effluent through the grease trap.
The cleaning of a grease trap is a dirty, smelly and generally unpleasant task. Consequently, there is an understandable reluctance on the part of food service personnel to clean the trap. If a trap is located in a high volume operation, it fills with grease very quickly and generally is effective only for a short period of time between cleanings. If the trap is not cleaned on a regular basis it becomes saturated with grease and other contaminants and looses its grease separating capability. When this happens, grease laden wastewater flows through the trap and into the downstream pumping which either causes clogging or discharging into the municipal sewage system. A clogged trap can also cause backup damage, interruption in service, and expensive emergency plumbing and drain cleaning charges.
The over taxing of municipal sewage treatment facilities, is becoming, a serious problem in many communities. Therefore, stringent regulations are being put in place which require a reduction in the volume of grease and insoluble solids, which may be discharged into municipal facilities. In addition, grease trapped waste is classified as a hazardous material in many areas. Accordingly, increased attention has been given to finding improved processes both for separating grease and solid materials from waste material and for recycling the separated solid materials for other uses.
The ideal solution to the problem of accumulated grease in a grease trap is the creation of a proper environment and ecosystem within the grease trap and connecting drain system which is conducive to the growth of bacterial microorganisms that are designed to biodigest the grease, thereby eliminating the problem, not only in the grease trap, but also in the drain system to which the grease trap is connected. Proper bacterial growth and bacterial biodigestion of the grease depends upon the creation of a chemically neutral, naturally stimulated, non-toxic environment in the grease trap.
Numerous prior art approaches have attempted to efficiently and cost effectively dispose of the grease, oils and fats found in grease traps. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,606 to Heinicke (the '606 patent) discloses that xeronine is useful in eliminating grease, sewage odor and hydrogen sulfide from restaurant grease traps and municipal sewage systems. The xeronine works by stimulating the metabolism of the resident anaerobic and aerobic bacteria. However, xeronine has a relatively short shelf life. Proxeronine, which is a precursor to xeronine is stable in solution at room temperature for extended periods of time. The '606 patent discloses that mixing proxeronine and proxeroninase at the site of use produces more reliable results than attempting to use the more labile xeronine. A five percent (5%) kelp extract is used as a source of proxeronine that is degraded by proxeroninase in the grease trap to form xeronine. The '606 patent discloses that the five percent (5%) kelp extract which is used as a source of proxeronine contains 125 ppm (w/w) proxeronine. The '606 patent discloses that proxeroninase is generally present in restaurant grease traps in sufficient quantities due to the disposal of milk into the grease trap. However, if a sufficient quantity of milk is not present proxeroninase must be added in the form of a whey-salt solution. The '606 patent posits that a small size grease trap with a daily throughput of five hundred gallons (500 gal.) of sink waste requires approximately one pint of kelp extract per day. This amounts to about 50 mgs of proxeronine per day or about 1.4 .mu.g/gal. of kitchen waste provided a source of proxeroninase is also present. The invention disclosed in the '606 patent has several shortcomings. As a practical matter the instability of xeronine presents handling problems in that a source of proxeronine and proxeroninase must be present. Due to the instability of xeronine the sources of proxeronine and proxeroninase must be mixed immediately prior to use. The '606 patent does not teach how to prepare the 5% kelp extract that contains proxeronine. In addition, the scientific community has been unable to reproduce any of the results regarding the production and isolation of xeronine, proxeronine and proxeroninase.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,564 to Francis (the '564 patent) discloses methods for maintaining the level of bacterial growth within a grease trap. The method includes positioning, within the grease trap, a bacterial incubator that is adapted to float at the air to liquid interface. Bacterial cultures are then added to the incubator in the grease trap to facilitate the reduction of grease and other organic materials in the grease trap. A shortcoming of the invention of the '564 patent is that the solution containing the bacterial cultures must be prepared in advance and is added to the aqueous medium. Therefore, the great majority of the bacteria may flow through and past the collecting container. In addition, this loss of bacteria requires the use of large quantities of bacteria in order to maintain an effective bacterial level within the collecting container. Maintaining large quantities of bacteria is both time consuming and expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,385 to Hater et al. (the '385 patent) discloses a porous fabric sock-like member filled with dried bacterial cultures. The sock is placed directly in the path of the waste stream flow. As the waste stream flows through the sock-like member the dried bacterial cultures or microorganisms are wetted and released into the waste stream. The invention of the '385 patent also results in loss of bacterial cultures from the collecting container. Further, the method of the '385 patent requires continual monitoring of the bacterial content of the sock-like member. In addition, replacing the spent sock-like members can be objectionable because the sock-like member is usually saturated with sewage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,575 to Yates et al. (the '575 patent) discloses the use of various digesting agents which have been developed to digest grease and sludge, i.e., protein, starch and/or fat deposits, in an aqueous solution or suspension. The digesting agents are suitable for washing away with the wastewater. Such digesting agents may include aerobic and/or anaerobic bacteria and, optionally, enzymes. Suitable enzymes, when present include proteases, amylases, lipases and/or cellulases. The particular bacteria and/or enzymes of the digesting agent are chosen with regard to the nature of the organic material to be biodegraded.
The '575 patent further discloses that efficiency is optimized by introducing the digesting agent into the horizontal pipe of the drainage system during a period when the water flow rate therethrough is at its lowest and the temperature of the wastewater is less than 60.degree. C., for example, at night. The '575 patent has various shortcomings in that the digesting agent typically needs to remain in the grease trap for a period of 4-5 hours, in order to act on the grease layer trapped in the central chamber of the grease trap. In addition, this preventative procedure relies on an operator remembering to manually introduce the digesting agent at an appropriate time following which the drainage system is expected to be quiescent and the wastewater in the drainage system is expected to be at a temperature of less than 60.degree. C. Furthermore, following the introduction of the digesting agent, a period of time typically from 20 to 120 minutes elapses before the digesting agent becomes fully active.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,083 to Pappas et al. (the '083 patent) discloses a method for the bioremediation of the contents of a grease trap. The method includes the steps of mechanically removing solid materials such as plastic items, food particles and the like from entrances to all drain lines and the drain lines themselves terminating in the grease trap. The method prevents the flow into the drain lines and grease trap of all chemicals that are detrimental to the growth of endemic bacteria. The pH of the water effluent in the grease trap is adjusted by introducing a basic material, such as, baking soda into the grease trap and mixing or stirring the water. This adjustment in pH stimulates the endemic bacteria resident in the grease trap. Bacteria may be added to one or more of the drain lines for ultimate introduction into the grease trap for biodigesting any grease in the drain lines and grease trap. Oftentimes it is difficult to maintain an optimal pH in the grease trap that is sufficient to stimulate the resident endemic bacteria. Further, if it becomes necessary or desirable to introduce bacteria to the grease trap the method of the '083 patent becomes increasingly more time consuming and expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,829 to Heppenstall (the '829 patent) discloses a dispenser for introducing treatment material into a grease trap for the purpose of digesting the grease or other hazardous materials which is separated from the wastewater that flows through the grease trap. The dispenser includes a housing having a compartment for holding a quantity of grease digesting material and a dispensing opening at the lower end of the compartment. A restrictor is located at the dispensing opening for enabling the digesting material to pass from the dispensing opening to the grease and other materials to be treated in the chamber of the grease trap at a constant restrictive rate. The method of the '829 patent requires time consuming and expensive monitoring of the dispenser's contents and rate of dispensing for optimal beneficial results.
Finally, the present inventors are aware of a proprietary kelp extract composition, called PX700, that is useful as a biocatalyst for treating grease traps and for stimulating plant growth. In particular, the kelp extract is prepared using methanol and the resultant biocatalyst methanol solution contains citric acid as a preservative. This proprietary kelp extract biocatalyst has several shortcomings. For example, the accidental ingestion of the biocatalyst methanol solution can have deleterious effects on humans or other animals. In addition, the citric acid is ineffective as a preservative. As a result, containers of this biocatalyst have an extremely short shelf life and have been known to expand and in some instances explode due to the overgrowth of bacterial and fungal contaminants. Further, upon storage of the biocatalyst, components of the biocatalyst methanol solution precipitate out of solution, which requires resolubilization of these components. The resolubilization of these precipitated components is achieved with variable results leading to unacceptably disparate efficacies between containers of biocatalyst.
It is also well known in the art that kelp extracts have been used in the agricultural arts, including home, garden and lawn care applications. However, it is believed that all of these kelp extracts are prepared with extraction methods utilizing methanol. As is known, the accidental ingestion of methanol can have deleterious effects on humans or other animals. Further, to the extent that preservatives are used in these known kelp extracts, it is believed that these kelp extracts use conventional preservatives. As is known in the art, conventional preservatives, such as benzalkonium chloride, require dilutions of 1:100 or 1:10,000 or more in order to become ineffective bactericidal agents during use. Preservatives such as thimerosal and phenol continue to be bactericidal at dilutions of 1:50,000 and even 1:100,000. Since the growth of endemic bacteria is a desired effect in many applications that use kelp extracts, the dilutions necessary to render the conventional preservatives ineffective during use adversely effect the efficacy of the kelp extract to enhance not only the growth of endemic bacteria but also the growth of the crops or plants being treated.
In view of the prior art at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the needed biccatalyst compositions and methods for waste water treatment, bioremediation and the elimination of grease from grease traps and sewage systems could be provided. Further, in view of the prior art at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the needed biocatalyst compositions and methods useful in home, garden and lawn care applications could be provided.